Are you familiar with the Chicago Cubs’ “Curse of the Billy Goat?” If not, here’s a quick summary:

In 1945 Billy “Goat” Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, brought his pet goat Murphy to Game 4 of the World Series. The pair was asked to leave the stadium after Murphy started bothering other fans. On his way out, Sianis allegedly said under his breath, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”

The Cubs didn’t claim a World Series title for over 70 years after that.

After finally winning the 2016 World Series, a number of theories emerged about just how the Cubs were able to break the curse.

Some say that it was Sam Sianis, a nephew of Billy’s, bringing and ringing the bell worn by Murphy (by then a treasured family heirloom) at Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

Others say it was due to some borrowed luck. Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ new president of baseball operations, came to the team after leaving his post as general manager of the Boston Red Sox, who themselves had recently broken their own “Curse of the Bambino.”

But maybe it was the grass.

Do we know that it was the grass? No. But it can’t be disproven either.

Justin Payne is the owner and operator of Payne Sod Farm. Located in Manteno, IL, Payne Sod produces a lot of different grasses for a lot of different customers.

“My father Ron started the business in 1976 on 650 acres,” Justin explained. “I started working with him in 2002. I grew up with it.”

After studying business at Kankakee County Community College, Justin returned to the farm and started working with his father full-time.

“We grow custom grass, specific for certain needs. This is not the everyday sod that you’d normally buy to put down in your backyard,” Justin said.

Payne Sod focuses on a few main cultivars including bentgrass (for golf courses) and tall fescue and fine fescue grasses (also for golf but for other sporting sites as well). Justin said that 60% of his sod goes directly to golf courses. Another 20% ends up at other athletic venues. The remainder is purchased for installation at commercial and residential properties.

“Our grass is sold to locations out of state – Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri… basically any state that borders Illinois,” he said.

And yes, one of those locations is the Cubs’ own Wrigley Field. While Payne Sod’s normal season is roughly March 15 to Dec. 20, last year’s relatively mild winter allowed them to start their work at Wrigley on Feb. 5.

“The sod we install at Wrigley is a very durable cultivar with a great ability for recovery. It has a lighter color; it’s not something for a person’s home,” Justin explained. “But it can take a beating and come back quickly, if you water and water and water it.”

He said that even after an event that experiences as much trampling as a rock concert, most of the grass will only take a week to 10 days to bounce back.

Between truckers, mechanics and laborers, Justin has 10 employees at Payne Sod. He explained that they engage in very idiosyncratic work. “The equipment is very unique, not really useful in other types of farming,” he said. “It’s not like many other types of farming where standard machines are used.” Their machines are very singular, specific to separating sod from soil.

According to Justin, the sod business in his area is so niche and the quality of his product is so strong that he gets most of his business by word of mouth, which keeps reliance on advertising to a minimum.

“Plus,” he added, “the sod really is that good. ‘Why? Why is their sod so good?’ It’s our proximity to Chicago. We have very good soil and, let’s face it, there’s water everywhere. It really makes for great sod.”

Looking ahead, Justin stated that automation is key. “Auto-mowers are very timesaving. We have guys mowing all day, every day – it’s a huge part of the workload here. An auto-mower frees up one whole full-time employee each day. Then they can be working on the forklift or on our irrigation system,” he said.

Justin is looking at buying one, but is waiting for the timing to be right. “The cost has gone down 50% from a year ago, and we think it’ll go down even more within the next year. Much like so many other products, they soon find ways to work out the kinks and produce them faster and cheaper,” he said.

(Please note that Justin Payne does not guarantee that any MLB club experiencing a dry spell and wanting to win a World Series will in fact win a championship should they install Payne Sod Farm sod. At the same time, he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.)

For more information visit PayneSodFarm.com.